hurtphd in paris. and elizabeth lower-basch got her master's at harvard. william is an independent from massachusetts, you are on. caller: happy thanksgiving. i just want to know, what is poverty in america? what does that mean? host: we discussed that earlier. guest: $20,000 a year, $30,000, $50,000? are these companies sitting on millions of dollars? the governmentwhy are they sitts money when they could be hiring people? host: veronique de rugy, the figure that we decided on for a family of three? guest: $18,000 for a family of four. but a lot of the programs, the poverty programs -- and there are 126 different poverty programs, 22 different food programs, and people always assume there are a few. there are many of them. the eligibility depends on -- food stamps at the federal level are 30%, right? states can add to that number, so it really varies, your eligibility varies on the program, based on the federal standards, and the states once. host: would you like to address the caller's issues about u.s. corporations? guest: when we see surveys of companies, they are nervous about cons
